The Aftermath
by Resacon1990
Summary: He'd never seen the Kaiba brothers like this, Mokuba falling apart and Seto barely able to hold him together, hold them both together. Despite his eyes being colder than a blizzard, his body language was one of a defeated man, clearly on the verge of falling apart, and Joey had the urge to walk over and be the one to pick up the pieces.


**This is based on the blimp just after they get off of KaibaIsland, Alcatraz, whatever it is you've named it! MWAH HAHAHA! ALL OF THE TORTURING SETO!**

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Joey felt his heart attacking his chest over and over again as he clung to Serenity, his eyes squeezed shut as his breath came out in labored pants. The shouting of the pilots, Seto, Mokuba and the others ringing through his ears as well as the screeching of the blimp as the rocket powered engine turned on and all sense of gravity left them. His back slammed into a command panel, and a small gasp came out of his mouth but still he hung on to Serenity, refusing to let his sister go for the world. The others cries of pain made him realise they were in the exact same position as him, but he just ignored it, choosing to bury his head in his sisters hair as he waited for it all to be over.

Then there was silence.

His golden brown eyes popped open and he glanced around, searching for his friends. He could see Seto's men in their seats, their eyes wide with awe, Yugi and Tea huddled together under one command panel, Duke and Tristan clinging to each other as they hid their heads in each others shoulders, Seto somehow still standing with a terrified Mokuba on his hip as the young boy appeared to be crying into his older brothers chest.

They were alive.

"Holy shit…" he whispered, and everyone began to raise their heads, glancing at each other and out the windows, relief washing over them when they saw the clear blue sky and the gentle yet still wild waves of the ocean. There were relieved sighs all round the room, and without waiting another moment Joey yanked both himself and Serenity to their feet before darting towards said windows, trying to look back at the facility they'd just escaped.

"Tea? You alright?" Yugi calmly asked the shivering girl but she just gave him a shaky nod and smile, gratefully taking his hand to help her up. On the otherside of the room, large yells of disbelief echoed around them as Tristan and Duke flew off each other, blushing madly and refusing to make eye contact as Joey made kissy noises in their direction, a smirk on his face while Serenity laughed with him.

Of course, all happiness was wiped away when a torn sob echoed through the room, silencing them all.

"B-Big Brother?" a scared Mokuba whispered, reaching out to touch his silent brothers face, the one that was blank, void of emotion. The younger boy let out another sob as he wrapped his arms around his brothers neck, hugging him tightly. "It's okay Seto. We're gone now. He's gone. They're all gone. It's just… just you and me now Seto, just us. We're a team remember?"

"Mokuba."

"It's okay Seto, its okay. We'll be alright… we'll be alright. He can't hurt us anymore, he can't hurt _you _anymore. He won't touch you ever ever again!"

"Mokuba-"

"He won't! He can't tear us apart!"

The young boy was cut off as a hand wrapped around the back of his head, twining into his hair before tugging his face into the owners chest. Seto cradled his brother against him, rocking slightly as one arm slithered around to act as a seat for Mokuba as the young boys legs tightened around his brothers waist. The older brother made quiet soothing noises, stroking his brothers long hair as the boy sobbed into his chest, whispering inaudible words but it was clear he was very distraught.

Joey felt his heart crack.

He'd never seen the Kaiba brothers like this, Mokuba falling apart and Seto barely able to hold him together, hold them both together. Despite his eyes being colder than a blizzard, his body language was one of a defeated man, clearly on the verge of falling apart, and Joey had the urge to walk over and be the one to pick up the pieces.

"Yug?" he whispered to the boy beside him, getting the small boys attention. "I might've missed something, what is Mokuba talking about?"

Yugi sighed as he crossed his arms and turned to look at him, eyes soft and a small smile that didn't reach his eyes was perched on his lips, "If I knew Joey, I'd tell you."

Joey fell silent, feeling rather than seeing Yugi place a reassuring hand on his shoulder before slowly escorting Tea out of the room, followed by Tristan and Duke. Serenity stayed beside him though, clutching his hand tightly as the siblings observed the other two. Both knew what the other was thinking, how they were glad that despite the divorce they still had a family that cared about each other, even though the fights their parent's still had sometimes was enough to have neighbors worried, but that was only ever so often. The boys across from them though, they only had each other, and a ruined past that would haunt them.

The two swapped a look, both agreeing on the same thing before they began to walk toward the Kaiba Brothers, both still wrapped up in each other but Joey could see the cracks in Seto's usually cold demeanor meeting, starting to break him as he tried to call his brother down. This was torture for them all, and not even Joey, who'd hated Seto up until a few weeks ago where his feelings became more… loving, wished to help lift away this burden.

"M-Mr Kaiba?" Serenity mumbled, stepping up to place a hand on Seto's shoulder, and she clearly didn't expect to see him whirl away, clinging tightly to Mokuba and staring at her with wide blue eyes.

Joey didn't know how it happened to be honest, didn't know how Serenity managed to convince Seto to let her take Mokuba to get some sleep. He also didn't know how the hell he found himself suddenly sitting on a bed in Seto's room with the brunets head in his lap, stroking the chestnut locks.

He didn't know because he was too busy focusing on the fact that Seto was _broken_.

The hands flexing around his trouser legs, pulling them up before releasing, were a bit of a distraction at first, but eventually the act just melded into a steady tempo with his hair stroking, running the fine tips of well kept hair between his fingers as he waited for Seto so speak. He'd asked what was wrong, asked to hear the explanation an hour ago when they'd first tumbled into the room and he was willing to give the other time. As much as needed. As long as he did finally speak.

Which he did after a while, his trembling body beginning to still and Joey swore he was about to drift off when suddenly he rolled over to face Joey's stomach, head perched on his crotch. Of course, even though he was determined not to say something, it didn't stop Joey from feeling slightly awkward.

"He used to hunt me."

Joey didn't know what surprised him more in that instance, the fact Seto was talking or the actual words themselves or was it the fact this hand had stilled and Seto let out a whimper before nuzzling the top of his head back into Joey's palm.

What he did know was that the simple sentence had sparked a fire in him, something that yearned to stretch out and destroy whoever had… 'hunted' Seto.

"Around the house when I was younger. If I did something wrong, or just screwed up in anyway then he'd hunt me down. I could run and hide throughout the mansion, but he knew it better than me. I'd turn a corner and he'd be right there, a fist or baseball bat or _something _waiting for me."

He also couldn't tell what was more distracting, the hopelessness and emptiness in Seto's voice or the way long fingers traveled up to hook loosely in the waistband of his jeans, the brunet fidgeting with the material.

"A few times I got away, or even managed to fluke it when someone he couldn't afford to look bad in front of was around, but I learned eventually that his anger wasn't something that would go away, but instead would continue to grow until he had time to take it out on me. Everything was my fault in his eyes, _everything_. And after a while I began to believe him."

Joey grit his teeth, feeling them grind against each other. This was… overwhelming to say the least. The sound of a small whimper made him look down and he saw pain flicker on Seto's face.

"_Shit_!" he cried, releasing the death grip he hadn't realised he had on Seto's hair. The other let out a small sigh of relief and glanced up, red rimmed blue eyes clashing with Joey's brown.

"I've gotten over it," he mumbled, not even acknowledging Joey's lapse of self-control, "I think I have. It's been three years now, but Mokuba… he hasn't. He still can't get over the idea that I was hurt in the process of protecting him." Seeing the confusion on Joey's face, Seto forced a dark grimace. "He used Mokuba as blackmail, a sort of way to make sure I didn't rebel. I had begun to resist him, becoming unconcerned about myself as long as Mokuba was okay. I let it slip one day and… Mokuba's blamed himself ever since."

Joey sighed, a hand coming down to brush a lock of hair off Seto's forehead and he was again surprised that the other nuzzled into said hand. He was so much like a cat. "Are you sure you're comfortable telling me these things? I mean, we're not exactly-"

"I trust you. And I trust your sister."

He was thrown off by that, but that didn't stop the small wave of excitement and pride that washed through him. Without putting much thought into what he was doing, Joey practically bent in half as he touched his lips gently to Seto's forehead, smiling at the feel of the soft skin on his lips and the small press of a stray lock of hair. He pulled away slowly after a small linger, enjoying the sound of Seto's gasp before he sat back and pushed the last of the hair from Seto's face.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For trusting me… Seto."

When there was no reply, just glassy blue eyes staring up into his, cutting through the thick silence. Joey tried to read them, tried to understand just what was going through Seto's head. It was only when he began to freak out about whether he'd made a mistake and gone a bit _too _far did Seto react.

A large smile bloomed on the brunets face, and with a content sigh he slide his eyes shut, happy to just lie in Joey's lap.

The blond stayed still for a long moment, question just what was happening, before his body seemed to run on autopilot. Slowly, he fell back with his head bouncing against the pillows and was tugging Seto up beside him. Despite the other being taller and larger than him, Seto still managed to somehow curl up into a small ball with his head pillowed in the curve between Joey's arm and chest. Joey rolled closer somehow, a hand coming up to stroke the chestnut locks whilst the other settled on Seto's hip and he smiled at the second content noise coming from the other.

He fought with himself over whether he should say anything, but eventually he just pressed a gentle kiss to both of Seto's closed eyelids before closing his own.

"You're okay Seto, I'll make sure you'll always be okay."

There was silence for a brief moment, a heavy one, before Seto's small voice whispered something back.

"I know… Joey."

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**And thus I hate myself for writing something that once had promise and turned to a pile of mushy crap. Brilliant. **


End file.
